$859 buys 500 large coffees and a whole lot of happiness

Staff at a downtown Edmonton Tim Hortons were having an ordinary day Monday until a young man in his mid-to-late 20s walked in, ordered a large double-double and a Boston cream doughnut, and posed a question.

“He asked the cashier, ‘how many coffees do you sell in a day?’ ” said store manager Joanne Averion.

Then he asked her to ring in 500 large coffees.

“The manager asked him if he was going to drink all those coffees or was he going to give it to someone?” Averion recalled. “He said, ‘you have to give it to the next 500 customers.’ ”